Tommy Tomlinson Wins State Senate Race By 74 Votes

With an advantage of just 74 votes, Incumbent Republican State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson was declared the winner over State Rep. Tina Davis, his Democratic challenger, on Friday.

Tomlinson, who has declared himself the winner since the hours after the November 6 election, beat past Davis in the extremely close race that involved more than 108,000 votes cast in the Sixth Senate District.

Certified vote counts released by the Bucks County Board of Elections on Friday afternoon showed Tomlinson with 54,382 votes and Davis with 54,308.

Following Friday’s certification, campaigns will have five days to raise challenges.

Ryan Skoczylas, Tomlinson’s campaign manager, told NewtownPANow.com earlier this week that the election proved that every single vote counts. He also thanked voters for their support.

Davis’ campaign’s legal filing will ask a judge to allow elections officials to count roughly 200 absentee ballots that came in past November 2 deadline. The lawsuit follows a similar one filed this week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

Davis’ argument has to do with Pennsylvania’s absentee ballot deadline, which is the earliest in the country. Ballots are provided in the final days of October were to be sent back the Friday before election day but delays caused roughly 200 to come in late.

“[Tina Davis] wants to make sure every vote is counted,” Aren Platt, Davis’ campaign manager, said earlier this week.

No matter the outcome of the final count, Davis will still have a job as a legislator. Davis won her current state representative seat against Republican Anthony Sposato. In Pennsylvania, candidates can run for two seats but only take one seat.

About the author

Tom Sofield

Tom Sofield has covered news in Bucks County for five years for both newspaper and online publications. In 2012, Tom was honored at the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Foundation's Keystone Press Awards for his coverage of President Obama's visit to Falls Township in 2011. When he's not covering news in the area, Tom enjoys checking out the newest restaurants and bars, exploring forgotten places of industry in the area, going to local parks and spending time with his friends and family. If there's one thing you should know about Tom, he is a local news junkie through and through. Email: tom@newtownpanow.com Phone: 215-431-1001